In Language Arts we have begun to read a novel.  Students were given the choice to read Divergent or The Giver.  Both of these focus on the idea of dystopia.  Students have been provided with school copies of the book.  If they would like their own copy, I have told them that it is an option because it will allow them to write in their book.  This is not a requirement.  I can also purchase the book for the students using my teacher discount at Barnes and Noble.  This would cover the cost of tax.  If you are interested in having Divergent purchased for your child, please send them to school with $10 tomorrow.  If you are interested in having The Giver purchased for you child, please send them to school with $8.  I will be going to Barnes and Noble tomorrow night.  Tomorrow will be the only opportunity to bring in money for the book.  Of course, purchasing the book is not a requirement.

Students reading The Giver worked independently to complete an anticipation guide for the novel.  Once this was completed, they work together to talk to the text for the first chapter.  While doing this, they identified vocabulary words they did not know.

Students reading Divergent talked to the text with me during class today.  We read the first chapter and wrote down a list of words we do not know.  While doing this, we completed a note sheet that asked us to describe each of the five factions.  We will continue to work on this throughout the course of the marking period.

The following were the journal topics for today:

What is your idea of the perfect word?

What is your definition of the word perfect?  Do you try to be perfect?  Why or why not and how can that be done?

Have a great evening!

While in Language Arts today, students were given final draft paper for the stories they are creating.  These will be due on Tuesday.

We are beginning to introduce Divergent to the students in order to prepare them for their field trip on Monday.  We discussed the word “clique” and what it means to be in one.  We also identified various cliques within our school.  Tomorrow we will see how this relates to the  factions in the novel.

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening!

Today in Language Arts was the last day that I am giving students the opportunity to work on their books in class.  Many students finished their rough drafts and will be receiving their final book copies tomorrow.  The final copies of this assignment will be due on Tuesday.

Conferences are taking place today between 4 and 7. I look forward to seeing you all there!

Please make sure all permission slips for the field trip are turned in tomorrow.  If your child received a detention for a tardy sweep, they will still be eligible to attend the field trip.

Have a great evening!

Today in Language Arts the students were taken to the book fair.  Many students were interested in purchasing Divergent since we will be focusing on this book later this school year.  Unfortunately, the book fair ran out of copies.  They took down the names of students who are interested in purchasing books and they will be getting more copies tomorrow.  I told students who signed up to purchase this book that they can go during Language Arts to pick up their order and pay for it.  I believe the book costs $12.  We are not requiring that the students own their own copy of the book.  We will have school copies to use.  However, some students want to own their own copy so they can take it home and write notes in it.

With the remainder of our class time, we completed our story board for the books we are creating.  These will need to be done tomorrow in order to start working on rough drafts.

All field trip money is due on Thursday.  Remember, if a student gets one detention, an R and R class, a suspension, or any grade lower than a C in any class, the student will be ineligible to go on the field trip next Monday.  These rules were put into effect last Friday and students are well aware of them.

Lastly, conferences will be taking place between 4 and 7 tomorrow night.  I am scheduled to meet with a parent from 5 until 5:15 in the office but other than that, I should be in my classroom.

Have a great evening!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!  I know that mine was very busy and went way too fast.  Today in Language Arts the students focused on creating a storyboard that corresponds with the book they are creating.  We discussed the importance of sequencing and making sure the transition between pages makes sense.  We will have more time to work on this tomorrow.  In order to complete this assignment, students used their thinking maps from their pre-writing.  If a student has not finished their pre-writing at this point, it is homework.

Reading logs were due today.  This and our journal entries, due Friday, will be the two biggest components of our grade thus far for the new marking period.  If these assignments are not turned in, the student will not have the grade eligibility in my class to go on the field trip Monday.

We will be going to see Divergent at Fairlane next Monday.  If a student receives a detention, suspension, or a Respect and Responsibility class any time this week or last Friday, their money will be returned and they will remain at school on Monday, March 24th. Please make sure that all field trip permission slips and money is turned in by Thursday.  If a student does not have the permission slip and money turned in by Thursday, they will not attend.

Once we have seen the movie, we will be looking at the book in class.  It is suggested but NOT required that each student has their own copy of the book.  I know that many students have been reading the book and own their own copy.  If parents would like to purchase a copy of the book for their child, it will be available at the Book Fair this week.  Once again, this is a suggestion and not a requirement.

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening!

Hello!

Today in class the students focused on the author’s purpose for Clara Barton’s diary entry.  Their homework tonight is to write a paragraph about this topic.  Tomorrow they will be tested on their ability to complete the Close and Critical Narrative Chart.  This assessment will require them to read a piece and answer the questions we have been working on in class for the past week.

Students went to the library today.  If you were absent, talk to me about it when you return to class and I can find some time for you to go get a new book.  We will be to the book fair next week so students can see if there are books they would be interested in purchasing.

I have worked very hard this weekend to make sure that grades are up to date as possible.  At this point, I have graded every submission I have been given.  The homework assignment tonight will be the last grade on this marking period and I will have them updated after school tomorrow.  I will not be accepting late work past Thursday so if there is anything that still needs to be submitted, please get it turned in.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be taking place next Wednesday, March 19th from 4-7pm.  I have contacted parents of students I would like to meet with.  Of course, I would love to meet with everyone.  If you did not receive a call but would like to meet, please feel free to email me, post something to my blog, or come on Wednesday evening.

Have a great evening!

Hello,

Today in Language Arts the students took their vocabulary test.  I was able to grade them during my prep hour.  All grades are up to date as of now.  It was obvious to me which students studied and which did not.  I was pleased because most students did do well on this test.

Homework for the weekend is to complete the reading log due on Monday.  Next week is the last week of the fourth card marking.  Please make sure all students are on top of assignment completion.

Have a great weekend!

Hello,

Today in LA the students were given their comprehension assessment for the articles on athlete’s salaries and The Black Death.  I will have these graded tonight and hopefully posted for you to see.  This should tell you what your grade is like before going into the vocab. test on Friday.  Please make sure you are STUDYING!

With the remainder of our class time, we discussed the diary of Clara Barton.  Students discussed what they believed the passage was about in small groups and we went over it again in a whole group setting.  Each student needs to write a summary of the diary entry for homework.

Instead of having a journal topic today, I gave students the opportunity to practice some of the vocabulary words they need to know for the text.  If you were absent today and would like to practice, here is what we did:

Match the term to the synonym:

Prosperous      history, report, record

Horde               tend, prepare land, grow

Chronicle         contend, deal with

Cope                successful, wealthy, rich

Cultivate           group, crowd

I hope everyone has a wonderful evening!

Hello,

Today in Language Arts the students began focusing on a narrative text about Clara Barton.  During class today we talked to the text with a partner and discussed what the Author’s Craft (box two) was for the text.  We will continue to focus on various parts of the close and critical chart for a narrative text as this week continues.  This will help to prepare us for our Close and Critical Narrative Assessment next Tuesday.

This is a reminder that we are having a comprehension assessment during class tomorrow.  We will be focusing on the articles we have read about athletes and The Black Death.  This will be an open book test.  Feel free to look over the articles on my.hrw.com this evening to prepare.

Our vocabulary test is scheduled for Friday.  Make sure you are studying.  The link to a practice website was added to the blog post from yesterday.

I am still missing quite a few ilearn assignments.  Many students did not even attempt to log in.  Please make sure you are completing all assignments for class by the time the due date arrives.  There are only eight school days left in the marking period.  No one can afford a missing assignment.  I have been doing my best to make sure grades are as up to date as possible.  I assure you, they are accurate 99% of the time because I am daily updating them after school.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, March 19th from 4 until 7pm.  If you are interested in coming in, please email me at trayloa@dearbornschools.org.  I will be calling home to parents I would like to meet with on Monday, March 10th.

Have a wonderful evening!

Hello,

I hope everyone is enjoying their evening.  Today in Language Arts we looked at the causes and effects of The Black Death.  Students were given a worksheet to help them figure out specific causes and effects.  They were given time in class to work on this with a partner or individually.  Anything that was not completed in class was assigned as homework.

Additionally, all students should be going home tonight to complete an assignment on ilearn.  This assignment will allow students to practice for their vocabulary test on Friday as well as get some additional practice with cause and effect.  I have added the link to ilearn to this blog post.

https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/login/index.php

Please remember that this needs to be done tonight.  It is due tomorrow.  Any student who is struggling with this can email me at trayloa@dearbornschools.org or post your question to this blog post.  I will be checking both frequently to respond to questions until 9pm.  The username to get in to ilearn is your student ID number.  The password is your birth date (yyyymmdd).  Please do not put any type of punctuation into the password, numbers only.

I have attached the second picture of the word wall to this blog post as well because students have been requesting it.  We will be having a summative vocabulary test on Friday.  Make sure to STUDY! I have created a practice test page on vocabtest.com.  Please use this to practice.

Have a great evening and make sure to get your homework done!